Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers

Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers

Social Agency and Divine Structures in History: An Explanation of the Model of Longitudinal Divine Structuration Based on the Holy Qur’an

Document Type : Research Article / Original Article

Author
Nabiollah Sadrifar
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran.
10.22059/jstmt.2026.406234.1842
Abstract
This study formulates an interpretive–sociological model for understanding the mechanisms through which the “divine laws” govern the transformation of societies, within a theoretical framework termed the model of longitudinal divine structuration. Its central question is how these laws, understood as macro-level divine structures, are actualized through social agency and how they shape historical transformations. The study employs a structured qualitative thematic analysis with an inductive–deductive approach. Data were drawn from 42 selected Qur’anic verses, read alongside the principal works of Tabataba’i, Motahhari, and al-Sadr, and were validated through a comparative exegetical–sociological strategy. The findings indicate that the realization of the divine laws (al-sunan al-ilāhiyya) rests on two theoretical foundations: first, the ontological reality of society, understood as the constructed reality of the ummah; and second, collective will that is, social agency, as the driving force of history. The proposed model accordingly conceptualizes the divine laws as conditional, longitudinal laws organized across three causal levels: human will, the intermediate causal system, and divine providence. These laws can be represented as a “chain of divine structuration” capable of explaining the causal relations between collective action and historical outcomes. Applied to two contemporary phenomena, “the environmental crisis,” understood as the activation of the sunnah of the emergence of corruption (fasād), and “systemic corruption,” understood as the activation of the sunnah of pervasive tribulation, the model shows that the divine laws are not deterministic; rather, they constitute open and dynamic systems of historical causation grounded in collective voluntary agency. The article’s originality lies in an integrative, testable framework that reframes the classical structure–agency debate from a revelation-based perspective and opens new horizons for theorizing in Islamic sociology.
Keywords
Divine laws, Islamic sociology, Longitudinal divine structuration
Qur’anic sociology
Social agency
Social laws
Subjects
The Holy Qur’an.
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Social Theories of Muslim Thinkers
Volume 16, Issue 3
Summer 2026
Pages 69-91

  • Receive Date 14 November 2025
  • Revise Date 29 May 2026
  • Accept Date 28 August 2026
  • Publish Date 23 September 2026